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Digging deeper for hard news

One of our bloggers, WileyCoyote, mixed some tough criticism among the praise in the previous thread. I don't want to let it go by unnoticed:

As for your reporting on local stuff- well, too little hard news and too much opinion has been a hallmark even of the CMN. Your writers - don't get me wrong, I am deeply fond of a couple of them! - don't like to do deep research, and have a hard time understanding nitty-gritty politics, math and budgets. Not their fault - it isn't taught to journalism students. They take what they get verbatim from their sources, and don't check for the story behind the story. They don't socialize with anyone except the news sources or distributors; wandering around and asking folks what they think after meetings.

I give our reporters more credit than ole Wiley; they know more than they commit to print. You gotta get it right before you can go to press, after all.

However, I bet there is stuff going on out there in politics, government and business that we're not on top of. Stuff going on behind closed doors. Sweetheart deals. Things buried in the budget.

And someone out there knows.

Maybe it's time for some "citizen journalists" (for want of a better term) to step up to the plate. These blogs are the plate.

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Never let it be said that I can't take a challenge better than the next guy! Grin.

OK, let's start with the easy stuff.

What's a "contingency fund"?
Some politicians think that it is a slush fund for their pet projects for their pet people. They will attempt to disallow necessary expenditures from this fund because it invades their plans to help or reward their buddies.

A real contingency fund is for - um - contingencies. Things that happen that you don't expect, like a fire truck blowing up, or needing another person in a certain department because of increases in responsibilities.

Lesson 1 - Any time something is proposed from a "contingency fund" - find out why. What. And how soon it is needed. What if a hurricane comes? Who does what, who gets paid for what, who depends on what until the Feds kick in - if they ever do? And - what happens if they don't? What are you saving that fund for? and for how long?

Micromanagement - this is old-style politics. Most elected people - no matter their education or background - are NOT as savvy as the CPAs or treasurers who have to go through State-sponsored classes on what is allowed and what isn't. The pols don't understand the daily dealings with developers as do attorneys and administrators who deal with these folks as well as the State folks on a day-to-day basis. Most elected people are elected to give general DIRECTION to the paid, experienced, and trained staff. Good staff will follow direction. Bad staff quickly shows itself as incompetent to everyone. An elected official who shows up once or twice a week for a couple of hours, and then is trying to show off his knowledge, rather than to understand the problems that staff faces and helping them to overcome them, is trying to micromanage. He will destroy every accomplishment by making staff jump through HIS hoops for HIS friends, rather than trying to work WITH staff for the good of everyone. You see this when, say, someone complains about a police officer, and the elected official demands, insists that he should be fired - in spite of the staff and outside investigation that cleared the cop of wrongdoing.

Lesson number 2 - Micromanagement = bad. Reporters should remember this - and remember how many other meetings, boards, and gatherings they have seen each pol involved with. They should not trust a part-timer (who is bucking for attention) to have a full-timer's knowledge. If a citizen brings a complaint, and a pol reacts, talk to the full-timer who's already been dealing with the complainant. The truth you get might surprise you. If you can't report an even-handed story, then there IS NO STORY...just sensationalism.

Budget Reading and Comprehension - When reporters get their paws on a budget, they should scan them avidly. They should know that ALL. GOVERNMENT. BUDGETS. BALANCE. They have to, by law. That is not to say that there are not some things in those budgets that need to be questioned - what it's saying is that, this is the money we are promised to get, this is the money that we hope to get, and this money will only be available after a certain time. What if you only got paid the last month of the year - but had to pay your bills from June to December anyway? Where would the money come from? How often? What happens if the money the County or town receives next month isn't what they expect? Over the next six months? What will happen? Where will cuts be made - or what will be paid off if the money comes in early?

Understand also that any cop or firefighter or public works guy in the street might lose his job or at least be reprimanded if he tries to answer any questions relating to expenditures for his department during budget time. He will be seen as trying to keep in his line items over everyone else's.

Lesson 3 - Understand budgets and expenditures by studying,listening, and asking questions, not taking just anyone's word for it.

One opinion. No reporter should take just his "best buddy at town hall"'s word for anything. I know several reporters who unerringly would make a beeline for one particular popular administrator, because he seemed so knowledgeable and open. He would trip them up every time with assumptions and half-truths rather than bald truths. But - because he could always be counted on for a quote, because he said was their buddy and pal, they would take his word verbatim. The reporters ended up being less informed than anyone else in the area!

Lesson 4 - build a cadre of informational relationships. Be able to keep confidences - but also be able and ready to tell the whole story, not just one side.

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